Saturday, August 26, 2006

City wins, Nimby's are plowed over !

Judge: Sierra Club's challenge to East Orange project unfounded
The Irvine Co. will move forward with its plans to build more than 4,000 homes.


By ELLYN PAK
The Orange County Register

SANTA ANA – A Superior Court judge ruled today against a Sierra Club lawsuit, which challenged the City of Orange's approval of a project to build 4,000 new homes on the eastern edge of the city.

The Irvine Co. project won approval in November to build 4,046 new homes east of the city and extend Orange's limits farther into the hills.

The proposal, which included a 20-acre sports park, faced opposition from environmentalists and traffic-weary residents.

The homes would add 12,000 residents to Orange -- a city that today has 138,000 people.

In December, the Sierra Club sued the city for approving the homes, saying it failed to conduct an adequate environmental review.

Today, Judge Stephen J. Sundvold ruled that the club's challenges were unfounded and that a near 30,000-page report and accompanying documents adequately analyzed the project's impact on the environment.

I watched a lot of the City Council meetings and really this is when I got interested in following the whole "Local Politico's". I must say that I am NOT wanting any new homes built in east orange. However, I must hold that the city staff and elected officials did everything possible to make sure all those documents were available and that the public had lots of input. So to the City of Orange, Congrats!


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